Weighed down by late nights reading up on international patent law, it has been another busy week in the world of PocketGamer.biz; the world of app stores, smartphone platforms, developments in mobile game making and assorted technology.

This week, like last, was dominated by a firm nobody had even heard of a few weeks back.

The threat of legal action against iOS developers by Lodsys continued to build day after day, leading some to recommend that studios simply settle with the firm and pay up, rather than face being wiped out in the courts.

To the rescue, then, came Apple, which finally issued a reply dismissing the notion that developers were liable for any patent fees. More forcefully, the company also stated it was "fully prepared" to defend its rights.

Ultimately, the week ended as it began, however, with developers reportedly receiving letters from the firm and fearing the worst. This time, it's Android studios that Lodsys has turned its attention to: expect more on that in the days to come.

Apps away

Conversely, it appeared Apple was already taking steps to avoid such a situation arising again in the future, reportedly acquiring more than 200 patents from Freescale Semiconductor to stave off any attacks from random 'patent trolls' in the coming years.

After all, if stats aggregated by 148Apps, Chomp and Chillingo are to be believed, Apple has a rather weighty ecosystem to watch over these days.

The three parties claimed that more than 500,000 apps have been submitted to the App Store since day one, although the actual number of titles currently on the marketplace sits closer to the 400,000 mark.

Management of all these apps never stops, and so news that Apple plans to further tweak its in-app purchase system was far from shocking. This time, the claim is that new apps submitted to the App Store will limit consumers to just one purchase during play.

But while Apple concerned itself with the monetisation of its enormous app empire, Distimo reported that life on rival Android Market is far less fruitful. According to the firm's figures, just five games in all have clocked up downloads in excess of 250,000 units.

That's a figure OpenFeint would no doubt contest. This week, the firm revealed that an average of 3 million new users are signing up to its games network on Android every month. The network also now boasts a total of 460 games on the OS.

A tale of two operating systems

Microsoft, too, may well be willing to fight Android's corner. News that the firm is actually making more from Google's OS than Windows Phone thanks to a patent settlement with HTC certainly raised eyebrows.

According to Citi analyst Walter Pritchard, the Taiwanese manufacturer pays Microsoft $5 for every Android handset it produces. It's a deal that has brought it a reported $150 million to date, which outpaces the $30 million asymco estimates Microsoft has made from licensing Windows Phone handsets by some distance.

Nonetheless, it's been an important seven days for Microsoft's platform.

The company lifted the lid on Windows Phone's next major update – Mango – and pinned it down for launch this autumn. Microsoft also took time out to announce new hardware partners in the form of Fujitsu, Acer, Toshiba and ZTE – the latter due to release handsets in Q3 2011.

Whether Windows Phone 7 is bound for tablets, however, was not clear.

Competing with these new players will be Nokia, which confirmed its first Windows Phone device (launching early 2012) will run the refreshed version of the OS straight out of the box. The Finnish firm also announced an update to the Ovi Store, which – amongst other features – notifies users when apps have been updated.

But it's Nokia's role with Windows Phone that generates the most attention these days, at least from a developer's perspective.

Not one, but two studios came out in support for the company's strategic partnership with Microsoft this week. Albeit, they were both WP7 developers, but Microsoft will be hoping their optimism spreads in the months ahead.

"I cannot help but draw parallels to when Xbox was launched and Microsoft managed to establish a large market share due to their dedicated efforts and strong commitment to the platform," said Pixelbite CEO Mattias Olsen of the firm's move on Nokia, while Press Play's Thomas Gravgaard simply branded it "extremely important".

Making millions

This week wasn't short of stories focusing on those already enjoying the fruits of their success, however. Middleware specialist Unity continued to go from strength to strength, with its developer base doubling to 500,000 within the last 6 months.

Nexon's free release KartRider Rush also passed 2 million downloads on iOS, while Fluid Entertainment's Office Jerk took just a month to hit 6 million downloads of its own.

Keen not to be left out, Glu expanded upon its recently released financials, announcing that iOS/Android freemium shooter Gun Bros. - which amassed development and marketing costs of around $1 million – generated $2.3 million in Q1 2011 alone (non-GAAP revenue).

For developers alien to such levels of success, Tiny Chef studio TinyCo brought glad tidings, unveiling a $5 million strong developer fund to aid indie studios gain exposure.

No developer can rule out the possibility of a buyout by Zynga, however. The social gaming studio made its 14th acquisition in 12 months this week, while speculation talked up the possibility of the firm filing for an IPO.

No shame in a name

Moving back to the big issues of the day, the one theme that rivalled the Lodsys debacle in terms of coverage was 'the name game'. First up was the apparent prevalence for developers to drop the words 'Angry' and 'Birds' into the title's of their apps.

Distimo stats pointed to a stark increase in the number of games using either one,or both words in their names. "For 'birds', which is a more common term, the usage in application names more than quadrupled from 65 to 365 [since Angry Birds launched]," the firm concluded.
Angry Bird's publisher on iOS, Chillingo, also generated a headline or two, when a new developer cooperative chose to adopt the name 'Who Needs Chillingo?'.

"Chillingo has managed to get where it is today through talent, skill, and hard work," Spilt Milk Studio MD and coop backer Andrew John Smith said of the chosen moniker, before adding that other publishers have turned into "monsters".

"It's really more about trying to make do without them than it is belittling their businesses and contributions," he said of the cooperative's aims.

Meanwhile, after putting the strains of trademark troll Tim Langdell behind it, French studio Mobigame announced it had pinned down the international trademark for the word 'Edge' in video games.

Light at the end of the tunnel, if nothing else, for developers with the name Lodsys currently weighing heavy on their minds.

Until next week...